Physics 1090: Fundamentals of the Physical Universe

University of Wyoming

Unit 1: Science as a Way of Learning
Due August 31, 2011
15 points

1. The bird. (7 points)

Explain, using words and a diagram or diagrams, how, when, and why the liquid inside the drinking bird drains down the bird’s neck when it tips over to “drink,” but rises up the neck at other times.

Your explanation should include at least the physics that was discussed in class.  To fully explain everything requires concepts that we haven’t gotten to yet, and you are not responsible for that.  You are responsible for what you could observe.

2. Cold Fusion case study. (8 points)

Read the Pons and Fleischmann story in the Berkeley Understanding Science site.  Also study the complex flow diagram of the scientific process in the How Science Works sequence at the same site.  In what ways did Pons’s and Fleischmann’s behavior deviate from the process depicted in the diagram?

Identify the steps where they did not follow the process, what they did, and what they should have done.  Also identify the pros and cons (for them) of what they did and what they should have done.  Bear in mind that they were concerned about their rights to a revolutionary discovery that they sincerely believed was genuine.

There might not be easy answers to these questions, as often happens in life.  Make sure that you seriously consider the issues Pons and Fleischmann faced, and be realistic about the consequences of any actions you recommend.

Warning: Do not turn in paper that has ragged edges!  If you write your work in a spiral-bound notebook, trim the edge before submitting it.  Papers with ragged edges will be returned unmarked.